Blair Academy junior organizes fun-filled day for special needs children

Since October, Blair Academy junior Daniel Geller has worked to coordinate a day of fun and activities to bring the Blair community together with local special needs children and their families.

On Sunday, April 28, Daniel welcomed more than 20 special needs children and their siblings to campus for a day packed with activities such as wiffle ball, face painting and hoola hooping. More than 40 student and faculty volunteers from Blair joined together on Hampshire Field to work with the kids, establishing a program that will continue to grow in years to come.

Learning at the age of 12 that he had been living with a mild case of Cerebral Palsy spurred Daniel to be proactive and to support others with special needs.

“It caused me to become aware of the importance of opportunity,” explained Daniel, who resides in Chester. “As someone who has gone through about 10 years of physical therapy, I know that our time is the most valuable thing we can give to these children. This day is something I've wanted to organize for more than four years, and I’m so glad I could make it happen.”

Daniel reached out to seven local school superintendents and many parents of special needs children to encourage them to allow their kids to participate in the event. Though he was met with some resistance over the course of many months of planning, Daniel kept working toward his goal: to invite children and their families to campus, as well as mobilize students and faculty at the School to support the event and interact with the local children.

“Daniel has been motivated to see this through since late fall,” noted Blair’s dean of students Jessica Matzkin, who worked with Daniel to organize the event. “He has worked tirelessly to reach out to the surrounding communities so that students in this region of New Jersey could participate, which has been a challenging process. To start a new event takes hard work and dedication— both of these things are strengths of Daniel.”

Matzkin said Daniel also reached out to young Blair alumna Chelsea Gallagher ’08, who works at Celebrate the Children, a school for children with special needs. Before the event, she came to speak to the student volunteers about working with kids of different abilities and needs so they could make the most of their time with the children.

“Daniel has gained the support of students, faculty and parents, and the entire day came to fruition on Sunday, when Daniel was met with a feeling of success,” she said.

In the days following the event, Daniel said several parents reached out to him with positive feedback, expressing their gratefulness for his planning the day for their children. He has also received requests to continue the event going forward, which he and the School plan to do.

“It was incredibly special to organize and run the event and to be able to bring students from my 'normal' school together with special needs children,” Daniel said. “Also, there is no better feeling than when you see the kids' faces light up.”